Sebastian Shaw
Sebastian Shaw 'was a mutant with the ability to absorb raw energy and redirect it or augment himself. Biography X-Men: First Class Prologue'' In 1944, Sebastian Shaw (under the alias Dr. Klaus Schmidt) was a scientist working for the Nazis. He was present at the Auschwitz concentration camp, where a young Erik Lehnsherr's mutant powers first manifested. Shaw attempted to get Erik to show his power by pretending to be his friend and giving him some chocolate. When Erik refused, Shaw urged him to move a coin that was on the table, but to no avail. He then threatened to shoot Erik's mother if he did not move the coin by the time he counted to three. When Erik failed to do so, Shaw killed his mother. This enraged him greatly, causing him to lash out with his powers, killing two guards and destroying the room, to the delight of Shaw. He then congratulated the traumatized young mutant, and promised to bring out his power using anger and rage. ''X-Men First Class: The High Hand During the 1950s, Shaw operated a small gambling establishment on Las Vegas strip called the "Hellfire Club", which served as a front for his ambitions for mutant superiority. One evening in 1959, Nevada Mafia boss Vinny Lavecchia visits the Club. Shaw had previously refused to pay him insurance/protection money as per Mafia tradition. During a game with Shaw, Lavecchia suspects the former of swindling him, and calls for Emma Frost, his telepathic mistress, in order read Shaw's intentions. To her surprise, she discovers that Shaw is also a mutant; Shaw himself immediately becomes smitten with Emma. When he once again refuses to pay the insurance money, Lavecchia leaves in anger and quietly orders his men to kill Shaw. Shaw, however, escapes unscathed because of his mutant abilities, and uses the absorbed energy to kill Lavecchia's hitmen. Soon, he makes plans to defeat Lavecchia and "save" Emma. After his associates Azazel and Riptide defeat the security detail around Lavecchia's home, Shaw attempts to "rescue" Emma. However, coerced by Lavecchia, she knocks him out with a psychic concussive blast. He is then taken to a remote warehouse. At the warehouse, Lavecchia intends to kill Shaw by slowly cutting him into pieces - something that Shaw's kinetic energy absorption power can't adapt to. Emma, however, begs that Shaw be dealt a quick death so as not to suffer. Shaw soon implores Emma to abandon Lavecchia due to her superior status as a mutant, angering Lavecchia and causing him to physically abuse her. In defense, Emma converts to her diamond form and kills both Lavecchia and his bodyguard Santo in a rage. Now convinced by Shaw's rhetoric of mutant superiority, Emma joins him and his mutant colleagues. Azazel quietly warns that Emma could become a potential threat, prompting Shaw to order him to contact their Russian allies to develop a telepathic-protective helmet. X-Men: First Class Three years later, Sebastian is firmly established as the leader of the Hellfire Club, a group of mutants with aspirations of world domination. He was observed in Las Vegas by CIA agent Moira MacTaggert meeting with U.S. Army Colonel Hendry, where he threatens him into supporting the placement of American Jupiter missiles in Turkey, near the Russian border. When MacTaggert witnesses Shaw's henchmen Azazel and Riptide using their powers, she attempts to warn her superiors; but Shaw has Azazel teleport Hendry to a Joint Chiefs meeting where he voices his support of the plan. Later, when Hendry came aboard Shaw's yacht to collect his payment, he attempts to have him killed. However, Hendry pulls out a grenade and threatens to blow them all up with him if they refuse to let him go. Shaw soon takes the grenade and pulls the pin himself with confidence, displaying his mutant power by absorbing the energy from the blast and killing Hendry himself by a single touch. That night, a now adult and vengeful Erik Lehnsherr, who had been hunting Shaw, sneaks aboard the yacht and attempts to murder the man who had tortured him, only to be overwhelmed by Emma Frost's telepathy. At the same time, the U.S. Coast Guard arrived along with MacTaggert and mutant telepath Charles Xavier to capture him. Emma used her powers to shield Shaw from him, and they all made their way to his submarine and narrowly escaped capture. On their way to meet with General Armivolkoff, Emma senses Xavier's enhanced telepathy (through use of Cerebro) and informs Shaw that he is recruiting his own team of mutants, consisting of Dr. Hank McCoy (Beast), Angel Salvadore (Angel), Sean Cassidy (Banshee), Alex Summers (Havok), Raven Darkholme (Mystique) and Armando Muñoz (Darwin). Shaw reveals a helmet he had built by the Russians that shields him from telepathic influence. He asks Emma if she can read his mind, but is shocked and says she can't. He then orders Frost to meet with the general in his place where he, Azazel and Riptide track Charles and his team to a secret CIA facility called Division X, where they proceed to kill everyone, leaving the young mutants as the only ones left. He then offers them a chance to join him in the upcoming war with humankind, an offer that only Angel accepts. When the others attempt to stop her, Darwin says he will join before he suddenly yells out to Havok. Havok shoots Shaw, but he absorbs his energy blast and kills Darwin with it. Shaw proceeds to Russia, where he meets with Armivolkoff, during which she was captured by Lehnsherr and Xavier. He and the Hellfire Club force Armivolkoff to send Soviet missiles to Cuba. It is his plan to goad the U.S. and Soviet Union to use nuclear weapons against each other, which would cause WWIII and cripple human civilization, allowing mutants to rise up and rule. He accompanies the Russian fleet in his submarine to assure that the missiles reach their destination, but is tracked by Xavier and his team. Lehnsherr uses his powers to lift the submarine from the water before they both crash on a nearby beach. Shaw attempts to absorb the energy from the sub's nuclear reactor (becoming a human atom bomb) but is foiled by Lehnsherr. The two fight, and Shaw has the upper hand until Erik manages to remove his helmet, allowing Xavier to mentally freeze his body. Lehnsherr then takes Shaw's helmet for himself and uses his ability to force the Nazi coin he still kept through Shaw's brain, killing him. His body was then used by Erik as a means of showing he was now in charge to Shaw's former comrades - Azazel, Riptide and Angel. Powers & Abilities Powers *'Kinetic Energy Absorption - Shaw was able to absorb energy in all its forms, proportionality augmenting all his physically parameters until finally metabolizing it. This made him extremely difficult to defeat in battle, as all the kinetic force from an enemy's strike or projectile will ultimate be nullified while strengthening him. **'Age Reduction ' - The accumulated energy also acts as sustenance, keeping him rested, nourished, healthy, and even young as he has remained unchanged since World War II. **'Nigh-invulnerability' - As long as people attack him using force he is invulnerable to any form of damage. **'Kinetikinesis ' - Once he has the energy, he is able to produce and release it in powerful and destructive ways. He can focus it in various ways, including simple bursts, stretching shockwaves, and even concentrated balls. The strength of these attacks was shown powerful enough to take down an entire room in one strike. Skills *'Multilingual' - Shaw was fluent in several languages - including English, German, French, and Russian. Weaknesses * S'low Attacks' - If someone does not apply force while attacking him, he can easily get injured or killed. This was proven when Magneto killed him with a coin moving at a very slow momentum, thereby not applying kinetic friction. Relationships Friends *Emma Frost - Teammate and Love Interest *Azazel - Teammate *Riptide - Teammate *Angel Salvadore - Enemy turned Teammate Enemies *Vinny Lavecchia - Enemy *Magneto - Enemy and Killer *Professor X - Enemy *Darwin - Enemy *Havok - Enemy *Beast - Enemy *Mystique - Enemy *Banshee - Enemy *Colonel Hendry - Enemy *'Humans' - Enemies Trivia *In the comics, Shaw's powers are slightly different, since he can only absorb kinetic energy and transform it into physical strength. External links * * Category:X-Men: First Class Characters Category:X-Men First Class: The High Hand Characters Category:Mutants Category:Male Category:Caucasian Category:Villains Category:Hellfire Club Category:Deceased Characters Category:Deceased Villains Category:Deceased Characters - Original Timeline Category:Deceased Characters - Revised Timeline Category:Characters Killed by Magneto Category:Brown Hair Category:Light Brown Hair Category:Blue Eyes Category:Eyewear Category:Facial Hair Category:Mustache Category:Eyeglasses Category:Mutants who look Younger Category:Americans Category:Scientists Category:Lovers Category:Leaders Category:Superhuman Strength Category:Enhancement Category:Multilingual Category:WWII Category:Anti-Human Category:High Body Count Category:Characters Imitated by Mystique Category:Absorption Category:Main Antagonists